Linda and Steve Hamlin on their first trip to Glacier National Park.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
HUNTINGTON — Artist, author, craftsman and musician Steve Hamlin has just self-published his second book, “Travel on $50/Day (or less!); Camping in the US and Beyond.”
The book, which came out in June, draws on many years of experience and 10-plus years of keeping detailed records describing proven techniques for affordable, rewarding motor-touring.
“It’s a subject that’s near and dear to my heart,” Hamlin said. He added that he’s been “kind of” working on it for 20 years, keeping records of the travels that he and his wife Linda Hamlin go on that form the foundation for the book. “I used the data that I collected over the last 10 years to demonstrate the fact that it is consistently possible to travel for fairly cheap money, even these days.”
Steve Hamlin, who grew up in a tent campaign family, said he and Linda tent-camped for decades, traveling up and down the east coast. Wanting to extend their range, they looked into renting an RV, before it occurred to him to buy a cheap van and convert it. They are now on their third converted van, which has allowed them to travel farther out west and for longer stays.
Hamlin’s first van was a 2001 Dodge conversion van with big windows and a raised roof that they traveled in for three years. “I did a fairly quick and dirty conversion of that. We took our first trip to Yellowstone in it,” he said. On the trip back, they considered the idea of buying a bigger van after pulling up next to a Promaster at a rest area in Ohio. Hamlin said the guy driving it invited them in to check it out.
When they got back home, they bought a 2008 Sprinter over the winter, which he converted in four or five months. “We traveled in it for six years. It was nimble, airy and economical, getting 23 or 24 miles to the gallon,” he said.
They are now on their second Sprinter, which he admits is not as fuel efficient. He said each conversion builds on the last one, and his current Sprinter is more fully realized. Each camper has an electric system charged by solar panels on the roof, and each one has been bigger and better.
“Our current van has a better electric system and a lot of storage. Most commercial RVs are made to look pretty, with not enough storage,” Hamlin said, adding that they bring a lot of camera gear and clothes with them. Inside, the interior is comfortable, and they have a microwave and electric tea kettle. Normally, Linda said they cook on a galley set up outside, but the microwave can be a backup for nights that they arrive late.
Last year, the Hamlins took the Sprinter van and headed for Arizona, but didn’t make it past West Texas due to the radiator overheating. Instead, they explored Davis Mountains State Park in West Texas, then traveled through eastern New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas, to places they hadn’t yet explored. “It was a really pleasant surprise. I was impressed by the variety of terrain and habitat,” Hamlin said.
In their previous Sprinter van, they traveled to the Northern Rockies, Yellowstone and the Badlands in 2019, which was their longest trip, taking six weeks, during which they camped every night. Hamlin said they don’t get hookups at campsites and are self-contained, adding that their limited capacity for water and ice usually determine how long they can stay anywhere.
“Travel on $50 a day (or less!)” focuses on the logistics of motor camping and tent camping interwoven with anecdotes from their trips, which Hamlin said are mostly there to illustrate the how-to aspects of the book.
“The first chapter is a summary of what’s covered in each subsection, which are chapters in their own right later in the book. There are some of my anecdotes throughout the book — a lot more in the later chapters. The first chapter after the summary is the data chapter, in which I parse the expenses of the trip, and why one trip was way more expensive than another trip.” He also covers the strategies they use to try to control their costs, and unexpected costs that do occur.
Hamlin, a well-known wildlife artist and watercolorist, said the only drawing in the book is an illustration he prepared for his last van build-out. He called it an “x-ray view of inside of the van,” to plan out where things are going to be located.
“Travel on $50/Day (or less!); Camping in the US and Beyond.” is available to order on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites, as either an ebook ($9.99) or paperback ($19.99).
“If you love adventure and like to save money doing it, this book is for you. Even if you prefer the creature comforts that a less rustic campground or a hotel offers, you should find some useful information here,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin’s first book, an adult coloring book entitled, “Birds of Eastern North America” is available at Gray Catbird Gift Shop, East Main Street, Huntington and at occasional local arts and craft shows.
